Innumerable types and varieties of deflector shields have been devised for automobiles and specifically to protect automobile windshields and hoods from the impact of insects, debris and other foreign elements. Customarily, the shield is mounted at the juncture between the hood and radiator grille. However, the great number of different sizes and designs of automobiles has compelled the use of special mounting brackets and straps which are tailored for use on each different car model or design series.
Representative of approaches which have been taken in the past are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,836,728 and 4,178,034 to T. H. Mittendorf. For instance, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,728 patent discloses a two-piece bracket arrangement for securing an insect screen to the license plate holder which is supplemented by hooked elastic cords attached to the upper corners of the screen to engage the tire wells. Some adjustability is permitted by virtue of utilizing different sized brackets for different makes of automobiles coupled with the elasticity of the cords. Among the hood-mounted shields devised, U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,744 to D. T. Ping discloses the use of a shield in which its side and upper members are bolted to the frame by means of flanges which run the length of each member. The same is true of the earlier U.S. Pat. No. 1,889,440 to O. J. Groehn where the flanges which extend along the perimeter of the radiator grille are bent to clinch the radiator shell. In both cases, however, the mounting means disclosed are limited in their conformability for use in attachment to different automobiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,192 to P. J. Redmond describes a hood-mounted shield with flat bracket members which permit mounting of the device to the hood. U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,592 to J. H. Ziegler, and owned by the assignee of the present invention, is directed to a hood-mounted shield arrangement which is employed in combination with an inset screen but suffers also from definite limitations insofar as its interchangeability for use where different makes and designs of automobiles is concerned.